She’s not a fairground prize, you overgrown moose, he chastised the beast.
Mate’s affection is the greatest prize of all. Must prove ourselves worthy of it.
He paused. That was actually quite insightful, he had to allow. But it didn’t help him in the slightest.
Does,his reindeer disagreed stubbornly.Prove self worthy.
Great. How do I do that?
His reindeer’s answer was immediate, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.Defend her. Defend calf.
Well, okay, he had to admit that kind ofwasobvious. Nothing mattered more to Hailey than her son, and though she was tough and strong enough to care for him by herself, that didn’t mean it was a choice she would make willingly, if there was a better option. If he could show her that they would be safe with him.
A new security system would be top of his shopping list as soon as the stores re-opened after the holidays. He’d never been worried about having one himself, but if he wanted her to stay here long term—and he very much did—then she needed to be able to feel safe when he wasn’t around. Of course, showing her what he could shift into would help alleviate her worries when hewasaround. Or send her running out of the door. He frowned. Would she believe he was a threat to Riley? That was a worry. He would have to reveal his secret carefully; choose the right moment and in the right place. Abruptly, he was grateful for Kemp’s interruption when he’d been on the brink of blurting it out in the attic. He needed to be more careful than that. Prime her, and give her time to see he wasn’t a danger.
Of course, the best way to show her she and Riley were safe would be to catch her ex and lock him away. He’d chase up on the information on the man.
Yes, drive away any rivals. Do not allow threats to roam near herd.
He would never let Michael threaten her again. Ever. But for now, all he could do was be with them, enjoy the moment and focus on making this a perfect—and safe—Christmas for them both.
Several times he caught himself on the brink of reaching out to her, wanting to brush the hair from her eyes or place a kiss on her cheek, to hold her close and feel his heart beating against his chest, but he could sense her hesitance and, hard as it was for him, he would not rush her. Still, at times the yearning was all but unbearable, and for his reindeer even more so. He would have to let it run soon, but he couldn’t leave his mate and her son unguarded while Michael was on the loose.
They had a fantastic dinner—it turned out Hailey wasn’t just an amazing mother and an amazing woman, she was an amazing cook, too, and an amazing team-mate. She’d dealt with the turkey and he tackled the veg, and the dinner they set on the table was fit for a king. Fit, even, for his mate.
Kemp had even thrown some Christmas crackers in the bag, and Riley’s face lit up with joy as he pulled his and discovered a small toy car and hat inside. He insisted on his stuffed reindeer pulling one, too, and he giggled and clapped his hands when Chase set a place for the toy at the table. The kid’s charm was irresistible, and Chase relished every second with him. He’d have loved him just by virtue of being his mate’s son, but Riley was loveable in his own right. His toothy smiles never failed to melt Chase’s heart, and he allowed himself to imagine watching him grow into a boy, and then a young man, with Chase as his stepfather.
He raised a brow at Hailey, who gave him an indulgent smile and a nod. He turned to Riley, who was trying to feed some pudding to his stuffed reindeer.
“Hey, bud, guess what? It’s present time!”
The boy clapped his hands in excitement and Hailey rescued the now-grubby stuffed toy.
“Shall we go and unwrap some presents?” she asked, helping him down from the table. Chase followed along behind them as they made their way into the living room, where several presents were covered in makeshift wrapping paper under the tree.
Hailey handed him the first, and helped him unwrap it.
“Choo-choo!” he screamed gleefully, waving the shiny red train in the air. Chase snapped a photo, capturing not only the toddler’s excitement, but also the sheer love shining in Hailey’s eyes. This, he thought, might be his favorite photo of the day. It would get pride of place in the photo album he’d rescued from the attic.
The cell lit up in his hands, a sharp ringing startling him. Normally, Chase would have ignored it, not letting anything break through this moment of family bliss, but that was his boss’s name flashing up on the screen, and if he was calling him on Christmas day, then it meant only one thing:
There was an emergency.
Chase offered Hailey an apologetic shrug.
“I’ve got to take this. You guys carry on.”
He stepped back and swiped the phone to answer.
“Hello?”
“Chase,” his boss said, then dove in with no further pre-amble. “We might have a lead on the missing kids. We need your intel up here, asap.”
Chase’s heart raced. “Yeah, I’ll head straight over.”
He hit the button to end the call and hung up the phone. Hailey and Riley were looking over at him curiously, though Chase also noted a hint of melancholy in his mate’s eyes. His heart beat a little louder. She wanted him around, sharing intheirChristmas. And anything less than the lives of children at risk would not have been enough to drag him away.
“Sorry about this,” he said, and meant it. “That was work, they need me. I wish I could stay…”
